Occasionally, I am asked why any Irish impacted by the American Civil War should be remembered in Ireland. After all, the argument goes, these people left our shores, and they weren’t fighting for ‘Ireland.’ In response, I usually point out that many were Famine-era emigrants, who often felt they had little choice but to leave. […]

On 17th March 1863 David O’Keefe, a cabinet-maker from Co. Cork, celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Virginia. Some six months previously David had left his adopted home of Reading, Massachusetts, to join the Irish soldiers of the 9th Massachusetts Infantry at the front. He wasn’t a young man- by the time he enlisted he was […]

I recently shared the full text of my Keynote Address which I was privileged to deliver at the 2014 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event in The Factory, Franklin last November. The event was organised to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin. In the Keynote I discussed the life, legacy and death […]

On Friday 14th November last it was my great privilege to deliver the Keynote Address at the 2014 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event in The Factory, Franklin. The title of the paper was ‘Patrick Cleburne & The Battle of Franklin’ and it dealt with the life, death and legacy of the Cork native, together […]

I am extremely humbled and honoured to have been invited to participate in the 2014 Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event, which remembers the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin. I will be giving a keynote address on Friday 14th November discussing Irishman Major-General Patrick Cleburne, who lost his life at Franklin. As part […]

I have been using Twitter quite frequently as part of my efforts to raise awareness in Ireland of Irish participation in the American Civil War. One recent example was the stories of 41 Civil War Pensioners in Ireland which were told using the platform over the course of a weekend. This was recently featured in Civil […]

We tend to view the surrenders of Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston in April 1865 as marking the end of the American Civil War, but for many thousands of volunteer Federal soldiers their time in uniform still had many months to run. Even after the official end of the conflict, death could still find these men at […]

150 years ago today Irish photographer Timothy O’Sullivan struggled up the stairs of Massaponax Church, Virginia with his equipment. Time was of the essence as he sought to capitalise on a fantastic opportunity to expose what he must have hoped would be an image to remember. As it transpired, the series of photographs he created that day […]

As I head to Virginia to visit some of the sites relating to the start of the 1864 Overland Campaign, I have been looking again at the contemporary photographs captured during that momentous summer. Irishmen were not just present among the fighting men of the two opposing forces, they were also there to document the […]

Originally posted on The Midleton Archaeology & Heritage Project:Many of Midleton’s men and women have emigrated down through the years, settling all over the globe and becoming part of the Irish diaspora. Some went on to become relatively famous abroad- for example Nellie Cashman- a woman who will be the topic a future post.…